OXBLUE CAMERAS DOCUMENT UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HEALTHCARE PROJECTS

Posted September 15, 2012

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CHALLENGE: Give donors and the community virtual access to construction projects

With three exciting construction projects underway, community relations professionals at the University of Iowa were eager to showcase the school’s growth to internal and external stakeholders. The projects include a new University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, off-campus clinic, and a state-of-the-art data center.

The school had already installed hundreds of security cameras throughout the campus, but they also wanted to offer high-resolution, real-time views of projects, as well as archive the construction process for marketing and PR purposes. Those overseeing construction soon discovered that the cameras were a valuable tool for documenting workflow and monitoring daily activity without having to set foot on the construction site.

“It’s helpful to follow the progression of the project 24/7 without actually being on the job site.” —D. Rublaitus, Infrastructure Engineer, University of Iowa (His office is 8 miles from the job site).

SOLUTION: Public links to construction cameras offer 24/7 job site access to everyone

Marketers, project managers, construction managers, donors, and the community-at-large can access high-resolution, real-time images of the three job sites from any computer or mobile device with Web access. One camera at each job site fulfills a variety of needs for multiple individuals.

“We are using our camera to see the start and stop times. We’re very sensitive to things like vibrations and diesel smells, so we use it to see where equipment is located and when it’s in use,” said Jason Miller, project manager for the UI Children’s Hospital.

“I’ve been on other projects with cameras before, but this is the first time with an OxBlue camera,” said Mrozek. “We’re hooked up to the weather, so we can know wind direction and temperature. I also like the zoom feature because I can see what each of the crews is doing. I have it up all day long so I can know where my guys are.”

A camera at the UI Iowa River Landing clinic was initially placed there as a public relations tool for providing donors and community members an easy way to watch the project as it progresses. Like the others, it is now being used by internal and external project team members and stakeholders who would otherwise need to travel to the work site in order to see progress and day-to-day activities.

Tom Sahlmen, onsite construction manager with Ryan Companies US, Inc., accessed the cameras frequently for his work on the UI data center project. “I used the cameras to produce a Powerpoint update for the owners,” said Sahlmen. “I would insert photos from the camera to show time-lapse progress updates.”

Sahlmen also relied on the cameras for real-time project monitoring. “I could see if anyone was there or not there, and I could take a look at it at night to make sure all was well,” he said.

Likewise, Dennis Rublaitus, infrastructure engineer for UI’s data center project, is never completely “off-site” even though his office is eight miles from the action.

“It’s helpful to follow the progression of the project without actually being on the job site,” said Rublaitus.

From marketers to project managers, everyone with a stake in UI’s construction projects is benefitting from the 24/7 access and ongoing documentation that comes with an OxBlue construction camera system.